Ichabod Thayer, Sr.

Biography

Birth

In Mendon. Vital record does not name the mother, but it must be Mary, Isaac's second wife[1] Isaac's age makes it possible for him to be either the so of Isaac Sr. (b 1664) or Isaac Jr. b 1695. Isaac Sr.'s will written in 1754 names Ichabod as the last of his living six sons.[2] There is no mention of a son Ichabod in the probate records of Isaac Jr.

Marriage

Ichabod Thayer married the widowed Hannah Bigelow Cheney in 1742. The 17 year disparity between the ages of widowed Hannah, 38, and her young husband Ichabod, just 21, seems very unlikely, especially back then. But their stone in Milford's Pine Hill Cemetery supports the match. And there is this romantic tale, recorded 140 years after the event, possibly too good to be true: Adin Ballou relates the following in his History of Milford from 1882: "There comes down a bit of traditional romance concerning the courtship that led to this marriage. Ichabod had become of age and was looking around for a sweetheart. He had become slightly acquainted with a prepossessing lass, who dwelt in the extreme northerly part of what is now Milford, and resolved to offer her his hand, should she be willing to accept it. So he started from old Mendon in the early winter, near the close of the week, on his connubial mission. But a driving snow-storm opened upon him; and when he arrived at what is now the homestead of Justin H. Eames, the storm continued with unabated severity for two or three days. Meantime there sprang up a mutual attraction between the widow and her gallant guest. She was twenty yrs. the oldest, but still ruddy and agreeable; and as Cupid is not easily thwarted, he planted his arrows in their hearts so effectually that a match was ere long consummated. The snow-storm gave Mrs. Hannah an acceptable and willing prisoner. He went no further in pursuit of a wife."[3]

Hannah Bigelow Thayer died in Milford in December 1791
Ichabod, now referred to as Ichabod Sr., married Dorcas Burnett in Milford on 16 Jan 1794.[4]

Children

Ichabod and Hannah Thayer had, in the part of Mendon that became Milford: [5]

Hannah, b. 20 Mar 1742-3
Ichabod, b. 6 Mar 1745, bp. 7 Apr 1745 in Milford
Elijah, b. 4 June 1747, bp. 5 July 1747 in Milford
Death

In Milford, on 10 Mar 1796, aged 74[6]

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Thayer-3554

Ichabod Thayer (1721 - 1796) I

Ichabod Thayer

Born 31 Mar 1721 in Mendon, Worcester, Massachusetts Bay Province

Son of Isaac Thayer and Mary (Unknown) Thayer

Brother of Mercy (Thayer) Thompson [half], Isaac Thayer [half], Ebenezer Thayer [half], Comfort (Thayer) Keith [half], Mary (Thayer) Keith, John Thayer, Nathaniel Thayer, Moses Thayer, Samuel Thayer, Joseph Thayer, Jerusha (Thayer) Crary and Patience (Thayer) Davison

Husband of Hannah (Bigelow) Thayer — married about 1742 in Milford, Worcester, Massachusetts

Father of Ichabod Thayer and Elijah Thayer

Died 10 Mar 1796 at age 74 in Milford, Worcester, Massachusettsm

Thayer-3554 created 11 Jul 2016 | Last modified 8 Aug 2022

Sources

↑ Massachusetts, "Vital Records of Mendon, Worcester,", 183, s. of Isaac and _______, 31 March 1721
↑ Worcester County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1731-1881. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.) [ https://www.americanancestors.org/DB1635/i/30230/58696-co5/52517878 Will of Isaac Thayer, written 3 Oct 1754, ]
↑ Ballou, Adin, History of the town of Milford, Worcester county, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1881. Boston: 1882, Rand, Avery, & co.) Page 1056.
↑ Worcester, Vital Records of Milford Massachusetts to the year 1850, p. 297
↑ Worcester, "Vital Records of Mendon, Massachusetts", pp. 182-183.
↑ Massachusetts, "Vital Records of Milford, Worcester,", 371, in his 74th year (a. 75 y. GRI), 10 March 1796
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "Ancestral File," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:1:9MM9-42W : accessed 2016-07-11), entry for Ichabod Thayer.
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